Green Snaketail
Green Snaketail Ophiogomphus cecilia
Identification relatively straightforward - bright green thorax, black-and-yellow marked abdomen, very distinctly patterned. Rear end of the abdomen has large yellowish spots, and anal appendages are pale and short. Larger and bulkier than other gomphids.
Local in southern and central Finland, not recorded in northern Lapland. Most northward records from Pello and Rovaniemi, not recorded in northwest coast and large areas near eastern border, where quite possibly underrecorded. In some places the most common gomphid, even more widespread than Small Pincertail.
Favours small streams, rapids and rivulets, especially those with sandy bottom. Sometimes in larger river rapids. As with other gomphids, immatures and females are often encountered far away from water.
Flight period: June-August, some records as late as late September.
Male is distinctively coloured, anal appendages are pale and there are large yellow spots on top of segments 8 and 9. Jukka Toivanen